SCHOOLYARD FARMSSCHOOLYARD FARMS

Mission Statement

Schoolyard Farms is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to creating healthier communities by teaching kids how to grow nutritious food that goes from their schoolyard to their plate. We do this by building mini-production farms on underused schoolyards ... Read more

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Mission Statement

Schoolyard Farms is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to creating healthier communities by teaching kids how to grow nutritious food that goes from their schoolyard to their plate. We do this by building mini-production farms on underused schoolyards that act as outdoor classrooms for the schools we serve.

Description

Schoolyard Farms is not your typical school garden. We were founded as means to make school gardens self-sustaining, when time-strapped teachers and dedicated parents are unable to manage a full-time, labor-intensive project in perpetuity. Schoolyard Farms is the only organization in Oregon scaling-up a school garden to a school farm and growing food on a production level so it can be sold to the community, generating revenue to sustain the farm. This model not only sustains the school farm, it generates urban farm jobs, feeds the community, and acts as an outdoor classroom and can be replicated at other schools. The support of Schoolyard Farms means the support of a healthier, more equitable food-system and a healthier, more equitable Oregon.

In addition to farming underutilized schoolyards, Schoolyard Farms provides weekly garden-based lessons related to farming, health, nutrition and life science to all the students at the schools we serve. We also host a farm-based summer camp where 1st-6th graders learn healthy living habits by learning where their food comes from and how to grow it and cook it through games, crafts, cooking lessons and more!